Prosecutors will seek death penalty for man accused of 3 murders in Springfield

Prosecutors announced Monday they plan to seek the death penalty for a Springfield man accused of killing three people last fall.

Luis Perez, 24, is facing three counts of first-degree murder for killings that occurred within a two-day span in November.

At a pre-trial court appearance on Monday, Greene County Assistant Prosecutor Emily Shook said Perez rejected a plea offer that would have sent him to prison for the rest of his life. So, the state is now going for the death penalty.

Court documents say this case started last year when Perez was kicked out of a home in the 900 block of East Locust Street.

Police say Perez returned to the home early on Nov. 1 and opened fire on his ex-roommates, killing Steven Marler and Aaron Hampton and injuring two others.

The next day, police say Perez killed Sabrina Starr, a 21-year-old woman who had provided him with the gun he used in the other two killings.

Aaron Anderson, 20, was charged as an accessory after police say he was involved in the first two homicides.

Prosecutors have not made a formal announcement about whether or not they will seek the death penalty against Anderson, who also appeared in court Monday in front of Judge Thomas Mountjoy.

Nyadia Burden, 26, is facing two first-degree murder charges after police say she bought the bullets used to kill Marler and Hampton.

A fourth suspect, Perez's girlfriend Dalia Garcia, was charged with evidence tampering. Police say she helped burn the clothing Perez was wearing on the night of the double homicide.

In the days after Perez was charged with the killings, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a scathing news release criticizing Middlesex County New Jersey for not holding Perez in jail in December 2017. ICE said it had asked that Perez be held in jail while it started deportation proceedings against him since he is originally from Mexico and was in the country illegally.

According to its website, Middlesex County has a policy of declining requests by ICE to detain some inmates, if those people have not been convicted of certain serious offenses.

Perez came to Springfield from New Jersey not long before the killings.

Perez will now get a new lawyer as his case is transferred to the public defender's capital division. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 15.